The Portland daily press., 1887-03-19
The Covernor,s vetn.

The objections of the Governor to the
Medical Registration bill were three in num-
Der:
First, that the penalty for neglect to regis
tor was excessive
Second, that the expenses of the commits
sion were to be paid by physicians instead
OF out CT the public treasury.
Third, that the operation of the bill might
build up new school of medicine (which
would impose upon the State class of prac-
titioners as little qualified for their import
ant duties as those against whom this act is
directed"
The act provided that physician who ne
elected to register might be punished by
fine of $500 or by Imprisonment for six
months. Either undoubtedly would be an ex-
cessive penalty for neglect to register through
inadyertcnce, but might not be if that ne
gect sprung from purpose to defy the law
These penalties are the maximum, and it
was clearly not the intention of the law that
they should be inflicted when the neglect was
simply the result of forgetfulness, and there
was no danger that our judges would infiict
them under such circumstances. The stat
utes provide that man guilty of man.
slaughter may be sentenced to ten years i'm
pris0nment and yet in many cases Of man
slaughter this punishment would be entirely
out Of proportion to the offence. 1t is impos-
sible to apportion by statute the punishment
to all the shades of the offence. A good deal
must be left to the jue ges.
The Governors second objection would
have been better taken if the physicians had
not volunteered to pay the expenses Of the
commission. As long as we compel our rail
roads to pay the expenses of commissioners
appointed to inspect them in the interest of
the public it would seem a little incon-
slstent to refuse to allow physicians to pay
the expenses of a commission appointed to
inspect them in the interest of the public, es.
pecally as they wanted to do so.
The third objection is that the operation
OF the commission might build up as dam
gerous class OF practitioners as those the
act is aimed against. Tie act is aimed
against ignorant and wicked men who swim
die the public by pretending to be what they
are not 1t is not aimed at any particular
school OF medicine, except the school that
scouts the idea that knowledge of the human
system and Of the nature and effect of drugs
is an essential qualification to a physician.
The selection Of the commission was placed
in the hands Of the Governor and Council. so
there was not the slightest danger that IT
would be packed in the interest of any par
ticular school. The branches in which an
pllcants were required to be examined be-
fore being turned loose on the public were
such and such only, as it is absolutely essen
tial that physicians be yersed it, They were,
first, anatomy or the structure of the hu-
man body. No intelligent person will con-
tend that knowledge of that subject is not
essential to physician. The second was
physiology or knowledge Of the functions
Oh the human being. A physician ought TO
know something about that. The third was
medicine, or the nature and effect of RENE
dies. 1t would seem to be quite essential
to phi clan to know whether the
medicine he is giving isan emetic or a cathar-
tic. The fourth was chemistry, or the science
that treats OF the composition of substances
and the changes that they Undergo. Some
knowledge on that subject would seem to be
quite necessary to the physician. The fifth
was toxicology or the science of poisons and
their antidotes. 1t is quite desirable that
the physician should know what drugs are
poisonous. The sixth was the elementary |
principles of histology the science that |
treats Of tissues; the seventh surgery; the |
eighth obstetrics; the ninth pathology, or
the science of disease; the tenth atiology
which concerns the causes of disease. How
knowledge of these subjects evinced
at an examination before board of commits
sioners appointed by the Governor and Coun-
ell could tend to build up schoolsof practi-
TONERS as little qualified for their important
duties as the ignorant quacks that the act is
designed to suppress it is difficult to see.
Probably the Governor feared that the
bill could be used to promote the fortunes of
a particular school of medicine and crush
out all others. If it could be so used it
was clearly his duty to veto it. But
all danger of that sort would seem to be
ayerted by the provisions Of the bill that
place.the appointment of the commission in
the hands Of the Governor and Council and |
specify the branches in which the |
candidates for registration shall be yersed. |
Undoubtedly the Governor acted for what |
he deemed the best interests Of the public. |
Nevertheless the veto, we think, is to be re- |
GREETED